How to read aloud to your child
In short
Read aloud to your child for at least 20 minutes a day, from books above their own reading level. Stop now and then to talk about words, pictures and what might happen next. Keep it going after your child learns to read, well into the upper grades.
Why does reading aloud matter if you teach phonics?
Phonics teaches your child to turn print into words. Reading aloud gives them the words and ideas to understand what they read. A child can sound out "migrate" perfectly and still be lost if they have never heard the word.
Books use words that rarely come up in daily talk: "enormous", "whispered", "suddenly", "harbor". Hearing them in a story, again and again, is how children learn them. A study by Monique Sénéchal and Jo-Anne LeFevre followed children for five years. How much they were read to was linked to their vocabulary and listening skills, which in turn were linked to their reading in third grade.
How long should you read aloud each day?
Twenty minutes a day is a good target for most ages. For toddlers, that might be four or five short books spread across the day. For an 8 year old, it might be one chapter of a novel at bedtime.
Do the math. Twenty minutes a day is over 120 hours a year. That is thousands of new words and a lot of knowledge about the world.
How do you choose read-aloud books?
- Go above their reading level. A 6 year old who reads simple decodable books can enjoy chapter books read aloud.
- Mix stories and facts. Books about animals, space, history and how things work build knowledge.
- Let your child pick some, and you pick some. Your picks can stretch them.
- Reread favorites. Hearing a book many times helps children learn its words and notice new details.
- Try poetry and rhyming books. They tune the ear to the sounds in words.
| Age | Good choices | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 3 | Rhyming picture books, simple stories, books about daily life | Under 5 minutes each |
| 4 to 5 | Longer picture books, simple nonfiction, folk tales | 5 to 10 minutes each |
| 6 to 7 | Picture books with rich language, first chapter books | One chapter or 2 to 3 picture books |
| 8 and up | Novels, nonfiction books, poetry above their level | A chapter or two a night |
How do you talk about a book while reading?
Pause a few times per book to talk. Don't turn it into a quiz. Ask questions that invite your child to think and talk, and follow their lead.
- Parent
- The bear is peeking out of the cave. Why do you think he's hiding?
- Child
- He's scared of the hunters.
- Parent
- Maybe. The book says he felt timid. Timid means a little shy and scared. When have you felt timid?
- Child
- On the first day at the pool.
- Parent
- Let's see if the bear gets brave like you did.
- Ask what might happen next, then check.
- Explain a new word in a few plain words, then use it again later in the day.
- Connect the book to your child's life: "This is like when we..."
- Ask your child to retell the story to someone else at dinner.
Should your child follow along with the words?
Sometimes. With picture books, run your finger under the title or a repeated line, so your child sees that print goes left to right. But don't make every read-aloud a reading lesson. The main job of read-aloud is listening, talking and enjoying the story.
Keep reading practice and read-aloud separate. Your child practices with decodable books. You read the harder books. Both happen every day.
Does reading aloud help a child who struggles to read?
Very much. A child who finds decoding hard often reads only simple books on their own. Without read-aloud, their vocabulary and knowledge can fall behind too, because they meet fewer new words. Then, once decoding improves, they find they don't understand grade-level books.
Read-aloud keeps the language side growing while the decoding side catches up. Pick books on topics your child loves, at the level of their classmates or above. Talk about them. When their reading skills arrive, the words and ideas will already be there.
One caution: read-aloud does not replace phonics teaching for a struggling reader. Listening builds understanding. Only practice with print builds the ability to read the words.
What if reading aloud feels like a chore?
Some parents don't enjoy reading aloud, and that is okay. Try shorter sessions, books you also like, or taking turns with another adult. Comics and graphic novels read together count. So do recipes, sports articles and instructions for a new game.
Ask your child to help: they can turn pages, make the animal sounds, or read one repeated line on every page. A shared job makes it feel less like a performance.
When should you stop reading aloud?
Later than most families do. Many parents stop when their child can read alone, around age 7 or 8. But children can understand books read aloud that are well above what they can read on their own for years after that. A 10 year old can enjoy a novel that would be too hard to read alone.
Keep a read-aloud going as long as your child will let you. Audiobooks in the car can carry it on when bedtime gets busy.